We pay peanuts for a pint

As provincial beer drinkers drown their sorrows at the news that lager now costs an average £2 a pint, Londoners are trying to remember when they last had it so cheap.

The cost of an average pint of lager in Great Britain has broken the "psychologically important" £2 barrier, claims trade paper The Publican. By this time next year, it claims, lager drinkers will think nothing of spending more than two quid for a pint.

In London, however, this all-important barrier was crossed two years ago. Since then we have become used to paying around £10 for a round - at least in the capital's more central pubs and bars.

Tokyo Joe's, in Piccadilly, charges £3.95 for 330ml - little more than half a pint - of Kirin Ichaban beer, while Point 101 in New Oxford Street sells a pint of the Dutch lager Grolsch for £2.95.

Ian Loe, spokesman for the Campaign for Real Ale, said: "Many drinkers in London are used to paying more than £2 a pint for their lager, but the price difference is not surprising.

"The price of a pint reflects property prices in London, which we all know are higher than the national average, and also the costs of employing people to work in the pubs, which again are much larger in London than elsewhere. Also business rates here are higher, as are all the other costs associated with running a business in London, such as rent."

Of the cost of a pint of lager sold in a managed pub, only about 3p will go to the publican as profit, with about the same again to the brewery. The Government, meanwhile, takes about a third of it in excise duty and VAT.

Mr Loe added: "Pint for pint, however, it is still much cheaper to be a beer drinker in London than almost anywhere else in Europe.

"Apart from Austria and Holland, beer is much more expensive in Europe than in Great Britain, despite the fact that the rest of Europe pays much lower tax rates than us."

Beer drinkers in France pay the equivalent of around £2.51 a pint, while the German equivalent average is still above the British at £2.17. Drinkers in Sweden have the worst deal of all though, with a pint costing as much as £4.58.

Bob Cartwright, of Bass Leisure Retail, said London beer drinkers should count their blessings rather than their pennies.

He added: "The cost of beer in London reflects the cost of living in the capital, and is still lower than most European countries. Plus drinking British beer in our pubs means you are getting an excellent product and the bonus of drinking it in great surroundings."

For those still hoping for a beer bargain, it helps if you live near Peckham. JD Wetherspoon's The Kentish Drovers is offering pints of Carling or Foster's for just £1.55, or £1.39 on Mondays.

HOW MUCH LAGER £2 WILL BUY YOU ACROSS BRITAIN:Irish Harp (£1.25 per pint), Courts Bar, Hull